


This is the End of the World - What do We do Now, Guys?

by ClosetLethargy



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2019-11-12 10:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18009611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClosetLethargy/pseuds/ClosetLethargy
Summary: Bio Terrorists have started the first ever full scale world war. Neutral zones, powerhouse nations, everyone is working to fight for their own safety. A biodegrading chemical, nicknamed Reverse, is plaguing every country across the globe, and no one is safe from its effects. Anyone who has known how to stop the drug and halt its progress is gone; except for two aspiring scientists, gone underground in Japan. With a tiny ragtag group to protect, a bio weapon to stop, and no permanent antidote in sight, the scientists have to create the first ever version of an antidote or the human race is doomed. The clock's ticking, boys...





	1. Life Underground

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This little piece is one I've been working on for a bit - so far there's only one chapter written, but I figured I would post it and see who's interested for more. Some things may seem rushed, and there might not be enough details, so if anything needs improving, please let me know! I like my works being smooth so that they're easier to read, so any error pointed out will help in this process. Thanks, and enjoy reading!

I blinked. Should I be looking at the sky right now? Should I be looking at anything right now? Should I be thinking? Should I be alive? The answer was no - no, I shouldn't be doing anything of anything right now. I should be dead. I shouldn't be in my body. The clouds drifting overhead were made of sooty smoke, the sky nothing but a blur of gunpowder and ash. Slowly, my senses returned, one by one; the smell of burning grass and something unidentifiable, the yells and screams and firing guns booming all around me, the tingling, numbing ache that pulled on a body that should no longer feel. I forced my arms beneath me and lifted up to a sitting position, just to see what would happen. Surprisingly, I felt the cold hard ground and the dried grass beneath my fingers, the chilly winter air, but I noticed something; I wasn't breathing. I curiously looked downwards. The bullet that had taken my life was still resting snugly in the left cavity of my chest, having pierced my heart and stopped directly beyond. My own gun was lying beside me in the dirt, nicked and battered. It had ammunition still ready to use.

Someone fighting nearby stumbled to the ground on my right side, and I curiously turned to watch them. Their face was familiar - could it be?

"L-Len?" I uttered. It was difficult to speak, as if I had a chest cold. The golden headed boy whirled and stared. His sky-blue eyes widened impossibly big, his mouth dropping open and flapping helplessly like a fish out of water. He looked ridiculous, but alive. Unlike me, I suppose, but at least my good friend was relatively unharmed. 

"Gakupo?!" He cried disbelievingly. I glanced down again. I was a mess, mud caking everywhere the blood hadn't. Well…I didn’t look any worse than he did. Or anyone on the battlefield, for that matter. I looked back at him and smiled, hoping to reassure him, feeling a funny buzzing in my skull that hadn’t been there before.

"Hey, buddy! What's up?"

\\( ' - ' )/

Miku cautiously peeked around the rusted lab door, watching the two teenagers work at a long table covered in various piping, wiring and tools, oddly colored chemicals and bubbling beakers as far as the eye could see. Kaito and Dex had been hard at work trying to create an antivirus to the world's infection for almost two and a half agonizing months now, and it looked like the long days and sleepless nights were taking their tolls on them. Miku grimaced and left them to it - the gross mixing and melding smells made her nose burn. She really didn't know what was normal for them, honestly. She'd only met them an approximate three months ago, when the first war bomb was dropped on her hometown. Survivors of both the war and the strange virus it brought with it had gathered into scattered underground colonies across the globe, living on rations and fear that this wasn't just a short-term arrangement. The war itself had been going for a few months longer than they had been underground, and most of the above surface had been bombed heavily, so it wasn’t quite as shocking to leave behind homes and precious memories – whatever was left of them. Dwellings had been moved underground due to the bombing, and where the only things as close to scientists they had were working was known simply as The Warehouse. 

It wasn't the underground Food Storehouse; any slight contamination from the chemicals the scientists worked with could harm a lot of people. What their scientists used as a makeshift laboratory was a proper underground warehouse, for supplies like electronics, vehicles and weaponry, as well as odds and ends like gear and the laboratory. There were four buildings in total for their little group; The Warehouse, the Food Storehouse, the combined showers and bathrooms, and the bunks. People would eat their meals in the Food Storehouse, halfheartedly chomping on bland oatmeal or canned items such as fruit or salty meat. Miku had just finished such a meal herself and had been sent to try, once again, to convince the two scientists to take a break and eat something, but, as usual, the smells of the chemicals had turned her stomach and thwarted her plans. As she was prone to do, she sought out Meiko, the sturdier leader of their hodgepodge group of survivors, and as usual, the taller brunette was busy tinkering away on her prized red motorbike, a greasy pair of goggles atop her head and an oily black wrench in her hand. 

"Meiko," Miku whined childishly. Meiko turned to her, sighing at the cute sixteen-year-old tealette clutching theatrically at her abdomen. 

"Again, Miku?" She complained. "Why can't you just suck it up? You deal with the smell of gunpowder and nitrate all the time, but you can't handle a little hydrogen peroxide and cleaning agents?" Miku blushed fiercely. It was true - she could handle those, because they were different, but the scents in the base she couldn't tolerate were the disinfectants; they were too strong for her delicate body to handle. Meiko groaned at being interrupted from her favorite pastime and stood up, wiping her dirty hands down on an old rag and setting aside her goggles and wrench. Miku giggled quietly. When Meiko had removed the goggles from her dirtied head, it had left a perfectly clean spot in her chestnut hair in their outline. The older girl, a staggering beauty of seventeen, swaggered down the hall with all the authority that she possessed in her feminine frame. Miku trotted behind her, holding a clean cloth to her button nose. She was curious to see how Meiko did it - she was the only one capable of dragging the boys away from their important work. For everyone else they would make excuses and wave them away, only to collapse later at their stations from either exhaustion or hunger. But Meiko they listened to, and Miku wanted to learn her trick for the day she would be able to overcome the powerful smells of their makeshift lab and drag the two of them out for canned beans and meat like everyone else.

Miku stopped short in the doorway, cloth to nose, while Meiko stormed her way inside, her muddied heels making a weird clip clap click as she walked. Both hunched forms froze at their shared work bench. Kaito, skinny beneath his stained white lab coat and untrimmed cerulean locks, and Dex, in his violet winter jacket and raccoon ringed goldenrod eyes, turned in slow tandem to face the fiery storm approaching behind them. 

"M - Meiko," Kaito stuttered, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. Miku blinked in amazement. Kaito never stuttered - was he that afraid of Meiko? "W - we were coming, h - honest!" Meiko grabbed his hand in a vice grip, glaring him down with her molten gaze.

"You're shaking, badly," she snarled. He shrunk away from her, somehow pulling his weakened arm out of her reach. Next, she whirled on Dex, capturing his chin and tipping his face upwards. Even in the poor lighting it was easy to spot the heavy rings encircling his eyes. "And you look like a tanuki. Out. Now." 

"B - but, Meiko -" Dex attempted at resistance. Meiko scowled, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. She was having none of it; they’d been friends long enough that they should know by now to respect her or be forced into it anyway.

"You heard me. Go. NOW." She crossed her arms firmly, accentuating her womanly assets in her greasy leather cherry crop top and miniskirt. "Kaito, how do you expect to mix your chemicals properly if you're trembling like that? And Dex, how can you even see straight long enough to make sure you're putting together the right ingredients? It’s dark in here, you’ll both strain your eyes and we don’t have any spare glass to get you glasses if your vision starts to go. Eat first then sleep. A few more hours won't matter if you haven't made much more progress by now and you'll feel better and sharper once you come back." Hanging their heads - this was certainly not the first time nor the last that they'd been so caught up in their work that they were forcibly kicked out - they allowed Meiko to guide them towards the Food Storehouse. Miku stayed behind, pondering what she'd seen. It really just looked like Meiko's natural authority and logical reasoning had been what got through to them. Unfortunately, Miku didn't possess either an authority radiating aura nor a persuasive tongue. That was why Meiko and Kaito were the ones in charge. While it didn't seem like it with how absorbed he was in finding a cure lately, Kaito could be sharp witted and reasonable when he needed to be. He'd just worn himself down to the point of collapse in so short a time, so Meiko had more or less been leading their colony by herself, with the occasional input from Kaito when he remembered that he was also a leader, both chosen through fair consideration out of their small population of two hundred and thirty-six. Meiko didn't mind the responsibility - she knew Kaito had the larger bulk on his shoulders and couldn't devote all his time to leadership. But he couldn't devote all his time to his experiments, either.

After Meiko returned to her own workplace, goggles replaced and wrench in hand once more, Miku joined her, tucking up her prim white dress to take a seat on an old metal folding chair to talk to her while she worked. She had no doubt that Meiko had observed the boys eating and then sent them to bed like little kids before coming back, so it was unlikely that she would need to leave again soon. Miku put the cloth away into a hidden pocket in her skirt and asked the question she did every day. It’d become habit rather than a need for an actual answer.

"Have they made any progress with the antidote yet?" Everyone, all over the globe, was anxiously waiting to know. Dex and Kaito were the only ones left who knew how the biochemical worked, and had been frantically working on producing an antidote ever since they'd gone underground. Meiko, predictably, shook her head.

"Nothing yet. They were so disappointed - that last batch turned out worthless, so now they have to start over from scratch again." Miku slumped. More bad news. This world war was going beyond limits ever reached before; even neutral zones were fighting now, a mere six months in. When the harmful bio-hazardous chemicals had been introduced into the warfare a week after the first declaration and bomb raid, with three superpower nations the only users of such toxic material, it had done something even more dreadful than anyone anticipated. At first, exposed soldiers were unaffected, and the weapon was declared useless. But then, when they started being killed on the field, the virus - brought them back to a sort of half-life. The symptoms were strange. At first, they remained who they were before they died, and were a great asset as if they died then they couldn't easily be killed again. However, as with many things, there was a downside. The natural deterioration of the brain would corrupt them, leading them to become nothing more than mindless killing machines with no moral standards, and once the final stage of decomposition was reached, they would be beyond saving even with an antidote, which would theoretically revert the symptoms of the virus to restore them to their previously living selves. At least, that was the desired hope, if Kaito and Dex could pull it off.

"Oh well. They'll get it eventually." Miku cocked her head, twin teal tails brushing the dirt packed ground. "That reminds me, have you heard from Len and Gakupo recently? I imagine word from the front lines must be difficult to get, but Rin has been pestering me again and I don't know what to tell her." Meiko exchanged her wrench for a dulled screwdriver and slid on her back under the machine. She gave the question a minute to ponder before she answered. 

"No, but in the last letter Len sent, he mentioned that they were going to be transferred to the area soon, so they were wanting to drop in for a surprise visit on their next leave." She scooted back out into view, firmly pointing her battered tool at Miku. "That means don't tell Rin, either." Miku sat up a bit straighter, an indignant gleam in her baby blue eyes.

"I know! I can keep a secret, I'm not six anymore!" Meiko rolled her own dark orbs and vanished under her bike once more. 

"Keep telling yourself that, girl. Maybe one day it'll be true." Miku only huffed at the insult. It was how they operated together. Meiko would tease mercilessly and Miku would protest in play. It was one of the many small things they did to take their minds off the gravity of the situation, the horrors they'd already witnessed in the few long months of the war. Nobody knew specifically how it all started, but nobody cared anymore. They just wanted it to end. There were still so many people missing out there, presumed dead; children, parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins; it was hard to believe it'd only been six months. It felt more like three years. One of their new arrivals, a newly mute girl called Luka, came timidly knocking on the door, hiding behind a curtain of rosy bangs. She flashed a set of quick hand gestures at Meiko, her cheeks dusted bright red. Meiko smiled - she'd been one of the team who rescued her, and ever since Luka had clung to her like a needy little sister. Not that Meiko terribly minded. 

"Sure, the blankets are in the Southern Warehouse. Come on, I'll show you where they are if you ever need more again." They left together, Meiko chatting cheerfully to fill Luka's silence, and Miku huffed in irritation. Would she never have enough time to build up to what she really wanted to ask? It was nothing against Luka; to the contrary, she adored the girl, and they were becoming fast friends. But she had to ask her question before someone else beat her to it and she never got her answer. Once Meiko answered a deep or heavy question, she didn't repeat herself unless it was under extraordinary circumstances. It was just how she was - get things done and move on, and don't look back unless it was immediately helpful. While she was waiting for Meiko, trying to decide on her wording for her question and swinging her legs idly, humming a tune to the swishing of her skirt, she heard a muffled clank coming from the laboratory. Fearing a spy, as the boys surely were long in bed, Miku tip toed to the connecting door, silently sweeping a battered sledgehammer into her tiny hands. She was about as prim and proper as a princess, having belonged to a prestigious clan once upon a time, but was quite deadly with a weapon in hand. Inching open the door, she spotted a dark figure bouncing up and down on one foot, clutching a knee where it had no doubt banged against the metal work bench in the dark, before tripping over a chair leg and going down. Miku lunged, taking her opportunity, flicking on the bright overhead lights in an attempt at temporarily blinding them. The hammer was about to come down -

"G - gomen ne, Meiko, I j - just came back for something, I promise!" Kaito cried out, cowering in genuine fear. Miku strained to a halt and hauled the hammer back, less than a foot from his face, slinging it over her shoulder as she wrinkled her nose at those awful, awful smells.

"What are you doing, you Idiot?! I almost killed you, you know," Miku sniffed, blindly searching her pockets for her cloth to block the chemical smell. She'd been planning a quick in - and - out and letting Meiko deal with the inevitable cleanup. "You're supposed to be asleep right now! Meiko's seriously going to lose it, she'll have to tie you up all night now." 

"Miku?! Please, please don't tell Meiko!" He begged, his large blue eyes wide and pleading. "I'm so close to finding the solution, I can feel it! I'm not tired, honest, I just want to work a little bit longer! Please, Miku?" Kaito hefted himself to his feet, favoring his right leg and patting the table piled high with beakers. “That last batch was a failure, but I just know that if we work on it a little longer, it might be effective this time!” Miku sighed into her cloth, the wonderful scent of faded vanilla filling her lungs.

“Can you guarantee me that?” She asked seriously. She was hardly impressed with his excuses – it was nothing new she hadn’t heard before. Though, honestly, she was feeling conflicted, torn cleanly in two. There was a half, her selfish, impatient half, that wanted that antidote so badly that she was willing to turn a blind eye and pretend she never saw him. Just let him work, her mind whispered carelessly. So what if he runs himself into the ground? He’ll save the human race. One little sacrifice for the greater good. It’s not that unusual, and you don’t even know the guy that well. But …then there was her human half, the compassionate side. The boys quite honestly both looked terrible, and she just knew that it would get worse before anything could get better. They were human too. They weren’t machines, and she – nobody – could expect them to work that way. Her feminine instincts were rattling loudly through her body, wanting to mother the older teens until they actually took care of themselves without all this consistent harsh prodding. Miku didn’t want to be heartless and force them to push beyond their limits just so she had the satisfaction of seeing the world back to normalcy. No matter how desperately she wanted it to happen.

“Please, Miku,” Kaito pleaded again. His big blue eyes somehow grew bigger, and Miku twitched. He hobbled closer, tentatively laying a shivering hand on her shoulder. She had to know how important this was – the whole world was holding a collective breath, awaiting the announcement of an antidote, the solution to their largest problem that could put an end to the most vicious war the world has ever seen. “I know you want this,” he whispered, trying to convey how seriously he was taking this. “I know how you don’t want others to suffer the way you have. I’m sorry, and I wish I could do something to help you, but you know as well as I do that whatever antidote we create, no matter how effective, can only bring back those who are still alive somewhere inside.” Miku twitched again, and Kaito gave her a small smile and brushed a stray lock of hair away from her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he repeated for emphasis. “However, I think I may have figured out the correct chemical balance that could at least stall the effects of the disease. It can’t cure it yet, but it’s a start in the right direction.” He paused, thinking. Miku was their weapons expert – there were a team running this little hodgepodge group, and she was a terrifically deadly fighter. With his partner practically spent and resting like he should’ve been for a week, perhaps… 

“Miku,” he began again. “This trial antidote has a 50/50 chance of working or not, and like I said, it’s not the full cure. It can only stall the effects for maybe twelve hours at a healthy dose, but I just realized –“ he looked over his shoulder, where a small cluster of colorful measuring cups were located, one having tipped at some point and was sluggishly dripping a bluish yellow liquid all over the floor. “It’s not deadly, but I ran out of Senbonzakura drops and mulberry concentrate when Meiko interrupted us.” Kaito turned to look her in the eyes, gripping her shoulders as firmly as he could manage. He was having a hard time gripping anything for some reason. “Dex is passed out, and Meiko won’t let me leave – could you come with me to watch my back? I need more if the serum is going to even have a chance at working.” 

Miku felt her head tip to one side, like her neck suddenly decided to stop supporting it. Senbonzakura drops were rare and hard to find. It was a special liquid, like sap, that came from one-hundred-year-old cherry trees. The sap only leaked during the one year they were one hundred, and then never came again. It was known to be extremely deadly, like a potent toxin, and people usually collected it to burn it or use it for research. So far, the only thing found to remove its toxicity was mulberry concentrate. Why Kaito would need nontoxic Senbonzakura drops, she didn’t know. So far no one had ever found a use for the toxic free substance. But if it would help…

“I guess,” she finally sighed. Maybe the stress had finally broken his brain, but if there was even a chance that this might help, she was willing to help in any way she could. If it didn’t, Kaito was going to get more than an earful from her. “How long?” Kaito flashed her a white toothed grin and began patting his mysterious and numerous pockets for something. Nobody knew what he kept in them, and no matter what he kept in them, it never looked like he was carrying anything. Finally, after a few minutes of frantic paced searching, he retrieved a wrinkled map with a lightweight compass dangling off a chain. 

“Let’s see…” He snatched a red marker for labeling containers off the table and pinpointed where their base was, marking it with the red, and used his finger to trace a squiggly line in various directions. It seemed a bit like he was lost, and Miku was about to input her own opinion, when his roving finger stopped, and he put a red dot where they needed to go, tracing the connecting line along roadways as best he could. “There, my grandfather grew a cherry tree orchard; as long as they’re untouched, we should be able to find at least one that’s a hundred. You may not know this, but if you plant cherry trees at the same time, no matter how they take root, they’ll all turn one hundred at once and leak the drops simultaneously. If my calculations are correct, they should be having that birthday soon; maybe a week or so.” He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I was actually planning to sneak out by myself and get some more – I was almost out a few days ago when I realized it’d be helpful. The only stuff I have is what my grandfather took from his grandfather’s orchard. It’ll take us less than a week to actually get there though, maybe closer to four days, so that’s why I need someone with me. Not only do I need to collect as many samples as possible, but while we’re out, we may as well do a food run, and having two people makes collecting food easier than just one. Not to mention you’re good in a fight – I haven’t fought anything or anyone in my life. I wouldn’t know what to do except whatever happens instinctually. I was checking the barometer earlier, and it looks pretty clear out right now. We can leave ASAP, if you’re ready.” 

Miku, still posed with the sledgehammer draped over one shoulder, rolled her eyes heavenward and let out a long, slow breath that could’ve been a sigh or merely trying to remember the scent of vanilla that would need refreshing once she returned. 

“Okay. Since you apparently wanted to leave alone, that means you’re ready to go, but give me five so I can at least get a change of clothes and my toothbrush.”

“Perfect! I’ll be waiting by the northern door in the bunkers.”


	2. A-wall and Dex's Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out on a mission, Kaito and Miku don't realize they've caused such a stir - meanwhile, Dex and Luka continue to work in the labs, unaware they'd make a huge leap of progress...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so short! Trust me, the next chapter will have more interesting parts; we're getting all the dull parts out of the way at once so we can get into the epic bits!

Rin was on the move. Her small black booted feet stomped down the hallway with a heavy thunk, thunk, thunk that made anyone unfortunate enough to be in the hallway with her to fall silent. The short blonde was notorious for her “calm before the storm” attitude, and the bright, strained smile plastered across her face like a sticker was akin to a ticking time bomb. Slamming open the workshop door with a crashing bang, Rin scouted out Meiko, who had finished work on her bike and was now fiddling with a malfunctioning gun, and beelined straight to her, that twitching grin revealing more whitened teeth than it should have. 

“Rin,” Meiko acknowledged nonchalantly. Rin gave a full body twitch and latched onto Meiko’s shoulders. The smile disintegrated as the bomb exploded. 

“Meiko, where is Yukari?” She snapped. “I just went to wake her and she wasn’t there! Everyone’s gone! Dex isn’t in the lab, Kaito’s missing, I can’t find Miku, and now Yukari has vanished! How could you send everyone out on a raid without me? I need something to do, I need to keep occupied! You’re so mean, Meiko-neesan! How could you do this to me?!” 

“Calm down, Rin,” Meiko sighed tiredly. She didn’t want to be dealing with so much trivial stuff all day. She had better things to do than to report everyone’s schedules to each other. “Nobody went out on a raid. Kaito and Dex are sleeping, Miku can do what she wants, and Yukari should still be in the med bay at this hour. It’s her day to volunteer with Al, remember?” Rin deflated like a balloon, hands knotted in her short hair.

“Gah!” She shouted to the empty air. “I need to do something! Len hasn’t written back in a month and I’m bored! What am I supposed to do? Meiko, please tell me you’re planning a raid, please!” Meiko lightly clonked Rin on the head with her screwdriver.

“No, I’m not. Our food reserves are low, but not low enough to risk a raid yet. We don’t need any new parts. We have all the scrap metal we could want. You all have been good and careful so we don’t need new medical supplies yet. We have everything we need for at least a week. You’ll just have to find something else to do.” Rin jammed her hands into her armpits, puffing her bangs out of her eyes with the exasperated breath she released. 

“You’re killing me here, nee-san,” Rin grumbled. “And you’re wrong, by the way. I checked, the only one in the boy’s room was Dex.” Rin sighed heavily. “I just wish Len would write soon.” Meiko dropped her gear onto the table, squinting at Rin with narrowed scarlet eyes. 

“What did you just say?” 

“I said I wish Len would write. It’s been several weeks now and I –“ Meiko pinched the bridge of her nose hard enough to bruise.

“Not that, Rin. Before that. About Kaito.”

“I said he’s not there. I wanted to ask him a question about the possibility of using a few flakes of diseased skin mixed in a juice fusion concentrate and a high dosage of numbing gas and a paralyzing agent to make a stun bomb for the next raid but I couldn’t find him.” Meiko groaned and fished out her helmet from somewhere underneath a pile of unused tarps, tossing the well-worn battered spare to Rin. 

“Go get Piko and Gumi. I’ve got the bad feeling Kaito just did exactly what I told him NOT to and we need to go stop him from doing something stupid.” Rin stared at the helmet in her fingers for a moment. She punched a fist into the air and darted off, letting out a whoop of excitement. At the other end of the hall, her scream could be heard: “Finally! A raid! I’m getting out of here!”

\\( ‘ – ‘ )/

“You’ve…you’ve been infected,” Len muttered, nearly losing the grip on his weapon. He couldn’t believe this – they’d been so careful. It was the army’s rule to take measures to prevent Reverse from infecting their soldiers. How could it have happened?

“So this is what it feels like to be dead,” I exclaimed. “How fascinating –“ I knew the rules, of course, and yes, it did have what was left alive in my nerve system start panicking, but how could he pass up such an opportunity to study the virus’ destruction of the human body? Study the effects, engineer the cure! Perhaps the shock had been dulled, but it was an extraordinary feeling, being alive and dead simultaneously. Like being stuck in a realistic dream.

“Baka!” Len shouted. He hurriedly scouted out a spot in the trenches that was unused, and pushing and shoving, got me to get inside. Out of sight. “How did you get infected?! It’s supposed to be impossible with our air filters!” Puzzled, I took a closer look at my filter strapped to my back. The cord feeding clean air into my mouth was completely severed. I shrugged sheepishly.

“Wasn’t watching my back?” I offered jokingly. Len punched me in the shoulder. Yup. He was mad.

 

\\( ‘ – ‘ )/

Reverse, the bio terrorist's weapon, didn’t just have an effect on people – it had an effect on anything living. Most plant life and wildlife had perished where the bombs had been dropped, and the once vibrant cities and parks were now nothing more than leftovers from the blitz, a dead, grey area littered in debris and dirt. Maps had become irreplaceable for the underground; navigating had become nearly impossible as there was nothing left to use as a marking besides a piece of metal here or a mound of dirt there. There was also the threat of being discovered by the undead. Zombies wandered the wasteland much like coyotes, always in packs, never alone. If one was spotted, you were a lost cause unless you were with several others and heavily armed for specific combat. They could move quite quickly for not having the full function of their brains, and they often went straight for the neck or arm, where the most easily accessible arteries were. If access wasn’t available, they dove for the legs or the head. No matter where they struck, their only intent was to kill and even eat if they felt so inclined. 

Because of the dangers involved, Kaito and Meiko decided upon a strategy to protect themselves as they walked. Meiko played lookout with her weapon at the ready while Kaito led the way, traveling during the day to avoid the swarms that appeared at night like bloodthirsty mosquitoes. Of course, Kaito was doing a pretty sad job of leading them across the wasteland. His nose was pressed so closely to the map that he wasn’t watching where they were walking, and often, had them change direction entirely because he’d gone too far east, or too far south, or not south enough before making that turn that was actually the opposite direction.

It was frustrating for Miku, who, despite wanting to help find an answer, had just about had it with this absent-minded scientist. 

“Did you ever actually graduate any sort of normal school that teaches the basic directions like east and west?” Miku snapped during one of their breaks, her leaning on her hammer and Kaito perched above her on a chunk of rock like a sunbathing chameleon. He mumbled something unintelligible and made another mark on the map with his marker, ignoring the small pile of rations Miku had snagged for them both. His portion had been sitting untouched for the ten minutes they’d been there, and Miku sighed, repacking them for later. While she waited for him to re-calibrate their location (having gotten them utterly lost), Miku let her eyes wander across the city that used to be her hometown. There was nothing left, save for shards of broken glass, rubble, and underneath, the lives of many who were lost in the first stages of the war. Miku turned back to Kaito, who finally looked about ready to start again. She didn’t really know anything about him. At all. Had he lost someone like she had? Maybe this was a good time to find out. 

“Hey, can I ask you something? It’s kind of personal.” Kaito shoved his marker back in his pocket, checking the sky for the direction they needed to go in.

“Go ahead. I don’t have anything to hide.”

“…what was your family like?” At that, Kaito just…stopped. He seemed frozen. Miku wondered if, even if he had nothing to hide, she might have crossed a line. She wasn’t the greatest with people, but right as she was about to apologize, Kaito scrubbed his fingers through his wild hair and dropped down to her level.

“They were pretty normal. I had a couple siblings; a big sister, a little brother. Mom and dad. Big clan. Nothing extraordinary.” He glanced at the wreckage behind them. “They’re gone.” And with that, he set off again. The sun was setting – they had to start moving and stop talking or they were in big trouble. 

\\( ‘ – ‘ )/

Dex groggily rubbed at his eyes, feeling the familiar burning abating enough to open them without fear of the watery lens getting in the way of seeing what woke him up. An all too recognizable bubblegum colored form was huddled into a folding chair by his bedroom door; the lights were off, and she was gazing into the light streaming in from the hallway. 

“Hey,” Dex grunted, rising from his bunk. “What’re you…augh…doing in here?” Luka glanced over, trying to appear casual. But in the dim light, Dex could make out the worry lines creasing her eyes.

“Just keeping an eye on you,” she signed shyly. Dex grunted again and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. After actually eating instead of snacking, he’d just passed out right there in the cafeteria. It made sense that they would have someone stand guard over him.

“Where’s ever’body?” He slurred tiredly, stretching out his sore muscles. 

“The team is out. Kaito went somewhere, big sis Meiko went to find him.” Dex frowned.

“Kaito went out? Do you know where, or why?” Luka shook her head. Dex sighed. He hated being left in the dark. “Thanks, Luka. Hey, while everybody is out, would you help me with my experiments? I need an assistant.” Luka perked up, offering an enthusiastic nod. She hadn’t been much use around the base, and with a personality that received joy from helping people, she’d felt like extra luggage sitting in the bunk area. She followed after Dex as he made that familiar trip back to the makeshift lab, watching in fascination as he expertly cleaned up the spilled mess on the ground while rearranging various objects on the bench to get ready for the next experiments. For the next two hours, they spent a companionable time together, Luka fetching things for Dex and watching the beakers bubble over and glow neon colors. Dex had patiently explained that in order for the antidote to be successful, the solution couldn’t bubble like that or it would only progress the virus faster. There was more to it than that, Luka was sure, but she appreciated the simplified version. She hadn’t been the greatest in her chemistry classes. They tried over and over, again and again, but no success. Luka was becoming frustrated herself after only a few hours; she wondered how Dex still kept on smiling and patiently asking her for things. Then Dex asked her to grab a small uncovered jar from further down on the bench.

As Luka was returning, keeping her eyes on the jar so she didn’t spill it, she didn’t notice the cable in her path. She tripped. Dex moved to catch her, vial in hand. The two chemical mixes collided – and exploded. It wasn’t a big explosion; simply a puff of blue-green gas with a popping sound that resembled a canon. As it settled, Dex stared. Luka nudged him, silently asking what was wrong. Dex showed her the vial, a big grin nearly splitting his face.

“It’s not the antidote – not even close – but Luka, I think you accidentally did something amazing! It can’t cure the virus, but this is what we made as a test for temporary immunity, but this might be the finished result! Finally, we’ve made a huge leap; Luka, I’m so proud of you! Come on, we need to keep going and do more tests!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review if you like it!

**Author's Note:**

> Zombies! Ah, they're a classic...let's see how things go for our adventurers as they wander out into a war zone! Will the cherry orchard still be there? How soon will they be discovered missing? And who wants to know what happened to Gakupo and Len on the battlefield? Let me know your thoughts if you enjoyed! \\( ' - ' )/


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